“You have no common sense, boy! How do you expect to handle the duties of an ambassador when you can’t even show up for lessons that [i]children[/i] go through?”

Crow let out his breath in a quiet sigh as Udolf continued to reprimand him for missing his last lesson. After breakfast, he had returned to his room to find the tutor waiting for him in a very foul mood. Apparently, he had gone to Albin completely incensed the day before and had demanded to be relieved from his duty of educating the new viceroy. Of course, the king had denied him, so now he was taking out his frustration on his student. He went on and on about how Crow was an “undisciplined peasant” and an “ungrateful criminal,” to the point where the former thief nearly wanted to go to his father and beg him to let the old man quit.

By the end of it, the viceroy was surprised that his ears weren’t bleeding.

Since Udolf was still furious, the tutor forced him to recite his etiquette twice before he even let him move on to practicing his literacy. Fortunately, even though he had missed one lesson, he managed to recall every letter except for ‘K’ and ‘Z’ on the first try, which seemed to put the old man in a slightly better mood. The tutor asked him to practice reading out loud for a while from the book he’d been working through and then left him to continue reading on his own. However, instead of letting him practice alone—he didn’t seem to trust his student enough for that anymore—Udolf planted himself at the table and worked on something of his own while the viceroy reclined on his bed to read.

After a while, Preston stopped in to announce that supper was being served, and Crow eagerly climbed down from his bed at the thought of getting away from his strict tutor. He slipped his book into his trouser pocket—there was no room for it in his tunic while he was still carrying the stolen jewelry—and walked with the attendant to the Great Hall.

“Have the guards tried to search you again?” Preston asked in a hushed voice as they made their way down the spiral stairs. He was eyeing the viceroy with a nervous expression. It was obvious that he wasn’t used to sneaking around the castle or harboring stolen goods. He looked like he could jump out of his skin at any second.

“Not once,” Crow casted him a sly smirk and lifted a finger to his lips. “But we shouldn’t discuss this right now.”

The servant nodded, and they made the rest of the trip in silence.

When they reached the Great Hall, Crow lingered by the front door as usual to see if he recognized anyone. Right away, he picked out Penelope and Naida from amongst the crowd. His sister spotted him in almost the same moment and waved him eagerly over to their table, grinning with her usual excitement as she nudged her friend in an indiscreet manner. He rolled his eyes at her antics but stepped over to join them nonetheless. Putting up with the princess was nothing if it meant he could spend more time with Penelope.